Raveled

Blue Jay could be in Australia if you need more PCs there.

So here are my plans so far. Citizen is at work when the Water Dragon, demigod descendant of Sha Wujinn, appears to create chaos on the waterfront. This turns out to be a cover to let a group of smugglers sneak onto a cargo ship and steal some high-end cars coming into Emerald City. Emerald Spider is at work on the HVAC systems of Atlas Mall when a dozen shops are burgled at the same time. She has to catch up with the multiplying thief and figure out what ties all the items together. Sha'ir is checking out the control systems for an Olympian distribution facility (themselves a subsidiary of Mars Tech) when the loading arms go mad and start attacking people! He has to save the workers, and if possible the expensive robot arms, from the hacker. Asad is attending a charity gala for the Pacific rain forest, when the party is crashed by a nasty-looking sort in a nasty-looking suit. Asad's dinner companion is snatched into the air and it's up to him to save her! Warp is attending a presentation at ASTRO Labs-Emerald City, where Professor Zed is showing off his latest dimension-hopping technology. The student has to jump in and save the day when they're attacked by super-powered thieves. Sun Walker is enjoying a meal in Jadetown when a truck backs up to the restaurant and pulls out one of the support columns! He has to save the other patrons and track down the criminals -- then wonder why the column is jade and gold. Blue Jay is caught in a traffic jam that turns so much worse when explosions rock the road! She has to stop an armed-car heist and figure out who is starting fights in the middle of her city Woo. Did I miss anyone? Have we gotten literally every single PC in Emerald City involved in this? It feels like it. So here is seven separate solo threads that are going to converge on a single mega-thread. That seems... unweildly. Perhaps Emerald Spider and a couple others will go investigate a different spur of the conspiracy while the rest fight Big Brain and his lackeys directly. But the fact is I'm going to need some help running even these solo threads.

Hm, that works. Now the question is do I want is as a heavy-ass column (that needs a big truck to move) or as a tiny needle (that constantly gets lost)?

I really want to stay away from anyone's metaplot for this. The overarching story is supposed to be about FOE trying folks out; if the story is also about Sun Walker doing stuff for Sun Wukong, then I have to explain why FOE and Sun Wukong's goals align.

He is, yes. Assessment is also your action for this round, so you have to wait for your turn to come again. Speaking of which, he's gonna try and grab at Warp. Results 1d20+12: 16 [1d20=4] Craaaaap. Okay, he's going to retreat deeper into the bank.

Self-care comes first, 42. Get better and then come back to us.

Hm. He has Immunity (Suffocation); that probably won't let him survive in low Earth orbit... Well I can think of a couple fun things to do, regardless. Now I just have to figure out what Blue Jay does!

Using the Assessment feat, I'm going to tell you that the only visible robber's Attack bonus is considerably higher than Hammer's, while his Defense is very close to yours.

Luthor felt the hair on his arms go up as the weird energy passed close to him. There was a flash that blinded him for a moment, and then Lena was crumpled in a heap against a wall. "LENA!" He screamed and sprang forward, gathering his little sister up in his arms. He cradled her carefully, looking over what little exposed skin she had for obvious injuries. She wasn't bleeding and her limbs weren't bent at a bad angle, but she didn't react when he called her name. Luthor quickly carried her over to an alleyway, where the corners of a couple of buildings would shield her from any stray blasts. "Stay here, Lena," he said to her unconscious form, rooting around in her pockets. "I'm gonna get some payback for you." He held up her backup mask, slipping it on while shucking his high-visibility vest. He was only dressed in a pullover, jeans, and white domino mask now, but he didn't feel the biting Midwest cold; anger was rising in him now, and that kept him plenty warm. "Scale-back's gonna learn what happens when he messes with a Lexington."

Alright, then if Sun Walker doesn't have a staff and it's Citizen out here, I say the atheist robot fights the watery demigod. Instead, Sun Walker can handle a good old-fashioned armored car heist. And Professor Zed is stealing something from ASTRO Labs. That all works out well. TA, do you agree to Asad's part in this, foiling a kidnapping at a high-society function?

Stronghold's going to spend his entire turn hustling Lena out of the line of fire, because Bluefish seems to be MIA and because he has a Complication relating to it. Two birds with one stone!

Results 1d20+15: 23 [1d20=8] Damn, that's a heck of a roll. Okay, he's messed up a bit. Go post.

You can see the one who shot out the window! He's standing there and hosing down the cop car.

Then the question is, who would WestRock be developing software for? Who are their big clients and what kind of software do they make?

The archer was quiet as they continued towards the forest. They drove past hospitals, big corporate campuses, and increasingly larger and fancier houses, eventually leaving the city behind entirely. The SUV stopped in an asphalt lot at the edge of a park, a few wooden kiosks and benches overshadowed by tall trees. Tona jumped out and went to the back of the vehicle pick up her bags, while Isaac took the opportunity to stare into the darkness of the forest. The young woman hitched her pack up to a more comfortable position and paused at the edge of the parking lot to double-check the lacing on her boots and the straps on her back. All of that was nearly automatic; instincts and repetitive actions drilled into her through long practice and life under a terrible threat. Her movements were quick, assured, professional, and in moments she was stalking straight towards the trees. Isaac almost didn't notice her leaving. At the last moment he opened the door and half-stood, calling out to her. "How are you going to get a hold of us when you find our people?" Tona turned and held up her smartphone, walking backwards towards the treeline. "I'm not totally helpless," she shouted back. "I'll find your people and give you a call!" With that she walked into the trees and soon disappeared.

Chrome landed hard in the parking lot, the asphalt cratering under his feet. He posed confidently, the sun shining off his face and bare arms. "Have no fear, citizen," he shouted. "The heroes are--" his prepared speech was cut off when the figure in the window opened fire on the teen, bullets suddenly bouncing off his chest and arms. Chrome yelled in shock and dove behind the police car, his metal skin smudged but unbroken. He found himself kneeling next to the police officer and tried a smile that tried to be confident but came off as wan. "H-hello, office. Uh, have no fear?" He cringed as another volley of bullets impacted on the car.

Alright, let's get some details nailed down. so far we have Edge/Citizen Blue Jay Emerald Spider Sha'ir Sun Walker With Asad and Warp as maybes. AA, which character specifically are you going to use? And everyone else, can you think of a good challenge for your PCs? KD, i sort of have an image of a descendant of Sha Wujing causing problems in the harbor, while Sun Walker bounces around on his staff to beat him. olopi, obviously someone is stealing something from WestRock, but what? Tiff, what about something like a duplicator burgling an entire mall at once; it would give plenty of opportunities to strain the Spider Rig. Jay, of course, is probably facing a something in the forest, something like illegal logging or mining. Asad is probably there for business things, so let's say someone -- a starlet, because it's Asad -- is being kidnapped. Warp, well, why is Warp out in EC? She's a student, but what is she studying?

Chrome is going to land in the parking lot! And be shot at! Rank 5 w/ Autofire. Results 1d20+15: 22 [1d20=7] That... doesn't really do much. DC 21 Toughness save. Results 1d20+10: 30 [1d20=20] Good to know I'm getting the rolls when it matters.

Me handle this? What happened to Ari? Speaking seriously, I don't think that should be a problem. Spider would likely be breaking up a mundane bank robbery or the like instead of a kidnapper fleeing across the city skyline, but there should be room for everyone.

Tona shook her head, trying to banish her embarrassment. "Why don't you tell me exactly why DI wants me over here?" Isaac shot her a look. "We told you all that. In the email. Couple of DI folks went up Mt. Stanley, haven't come down again. That was a good fourteen, fifteen days ago." Tona watched him carefully for a moment before answering. "I know that. I also know Emerald City has a police force and an AEGIS detachment. And I know that Danger International specializes in going into dangerous places, so you must have some people who can find other people. What I don't know is why you're turning to me instead of one of those, and what DI was going up Mt. Stanley." Isaac sighed heavily. "The rocks around here are... weird." "Weird how?" Tona demanded. "'Weird' in the kind of way that Danger International doesn't recognize, and so we sent two people with PhDs in geology into the forest with a half-dozen other folks just to keep them working in the field." For the first time since he had picked the young woman up, Isaac's voice lost its joking quality. Now his tone was sharp and angry; this topic was cutting through his habitual joviality. Tona, blind as she usually was to social cues, picked up on that. "So your people are missing. Okay. Why call me?" Isaac ground his back teeth together for a moment. "We know where the group made camp a week or so ago. They missed their check-in so a couple of DI's, ah, field consultants went to investigate. The camp was ripped to hell and the tents were shredded, but there were no bodies left around and no tracks leading out. AEGIS is sitting on its hands until we can show beyond a doubt that there's a threat out there -- and the fact that both of the PhDs were foreign nationals aren't exactly lighting a fire under their collective ass." Isaac's hands were gripping the wheel tightly enough to turn his knuckles white. "So I called up a few old friends and someone let your name drop."

As the car twisted and wound through the city, the massing bulk of Mt. Stanley came into view. It loomed above even the tallest buildings in the southern city, not casting a shadow due to the timing but an obvious presence in the sky. Tona's eye instinctively followed its lines down to where they began to be fuzzed by trees, and then to where they finally disappeared behind the nearest buildings. She automatically tuned out Isaac's words, her mind deep under the trees of the forest, anticipating its coolness, its darkness. She sought out specific features, noting them without really seeing them; the crooked line of a river with its headwaters deeper into the Atlas range, a brighter spray of rock where a covering of unstable mud had come lose in some summer storm, leaving unstable scree in its wake. The car grew quiet as the older man realized Tona wasn't paying the least attention to him. As the car slid to a halt at a red light, he took the opportunity to study her profile, her intent gaze, her slightly parted lips. "You know," he said, breaking the silence loudly and making Tona freeze up for a moment, "the last time I stared at something like this a big ol' Filipino guy threw me out the bar for making eyes at his girl." He returned his attention to the road as they started driving again. Tona felt herself coloring under the insinuation. "I'm going to be spending a lot of time there. I should know what the lay of the land is like. That's easier to do from... far away." The justification rang hollow even in her ears, and Isaac just grinned from ear to ear.

Reading through the Emerald Knights campaign has given me an idea for an adventure within Emerald City. The short version is that one or another supervillain -- likely FOE or the Chessmaster -- is going on a recruiting drive. That means a lot of petty and not-so petty crime popping up in Emerald as various supercriminals are given auditions. Ideally this would start with a number of solo or semi-solo threads as individual PCs stop individual groups, then track them back to some common mastermind. At the climax the PCs can come together to face this foe and strike a blow for, uh, peace and justice and apple pie and all that.

"I was never much one for diplomacy, your Majesty," Corona replied, her tone tight and harsh. "My time tends to be spent more on the front lines. In fact, the last time I was in the presence of Khanate soldiers, they were Communion drones using wave tactics to overwhelm defenses." She glanced at Tal'gar. "Defenses of a civilian housing project. If the Praetorians hadn't arrived in time, there would have been dozens more of the creatures to destroy. So you'll have to excuse me if I'm less than diplomatic towards your... bodyguards, Lady."

Warren wasn't used to being in the city on his own. For almost his entire life he'd been within sight of one or the other parent -- usually his mother -- from when he woke up until when he went to bed. Now he was living in a dormitory at a school, admittedly less than an hour away from his house. It felt like unbelievable freedom. In order to combat his ignorance, the boy had taken to traveling around the different neighborhoods on the weekend, sometimes riding the passenger train but more often using his phenomenal strength to jump from building to building. It was exhilarating, to be able to move so easily and so openly, with no pain or shaking limbs. It was worth any price just to feel the wind in his hair as he moved through the city. He was shaken out of his reverie by the sound of gunfire floating over the buildings. He looked around, searching with his eyes and more esoteric senses for the source of the violence. His mind reached out into the air, the radio in his head picking up the police band chatter. He'd passed the Savings & Loan bank just a few minutes ago; cursing himself, he deactivated the image inducer on his belt and soared away, a blue and silver and gold blur against the sky.